Law enforcement agencies have long avoided giving names of gangs to the media because it was a source of pride to the gangs.

Now, the Los Angeles Police Department and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are going against the grain.

As part of a broader plan that aims to stem the recent spurt of gang violence in the region, the LAPD recently released a list of the city’s 11 “Top Targeted Street Gangs.”

However, local agencies are adopting a wait-and-see attitude toward the practice.

Wes McBride, 65, who used to work on a gang unit out of the Sheriff’s Industry and East Los Angeles stations, is now retired and heads the California Gang Investigator’s Association.

“That’s the only part of the plan I’m not wild about,” he said. “I’m afraid the \ that aren’t on that list will be upset that they’re not on that list.”

That, he said, could spark deadly competition.

“The way the egos of gang members work is, they want to be the top gang,” said Clayton Hollopeter, executive director of the San Gabriel Valley Boys and Girls Club in El Monte. “They may go out and commit more crime to be the worst of the worst.”

McBride said recognition in print is a source of pride for gang members.

“Why give them identification and advertisement?” he said. “It gives them bragging rights. They keep their newspaper clippings.”

While such publicity would embarrass normal people, he said, it has the opposite effect on people who associate crime with social status.

But LAPD officials said it is time to reverse tactics.

“For the last 40, 50 years we’ve been addressing this gang problem, and not a lot has changed using that practice,” said LAPD spokesman Lt. Paul Vernon. “In some ways, \ emboldens them and gives them a sense of anonymity.”

Vernon said part of the idea is to “deputize the public to stand up to the gang culture. We want the public to be more aware of who they are, and to call us and let us know what they’re up to.”

What’s needed, he said, is a paradigm shift like the one that took the stylish aura away from smoking. “It’s legitimized in pop culture,” he said. “Kids dress like gang members and think it’s cool. For it to truly end, society has to step up and say, this is not cool.”

San Gabriel Valley law enforcement officials said local gangs are different than the ones in Los Angeles, but it’s too soon to rule anything out.

“I applaud the LAPD for taking the chance, and we’re all watching,” said West Covina police Chief Frank Wills. “It’s a great social science experiment that’s well-thought out and may well work.”